David Kelly

Kelly returns to the field with more than 30 years of coaching experience. He was on Coach Taggart’s staffs at Oregon and South Florida, serving as assistant athletic director for football recruiting operations and director of player personnel, respectively. He coached wide receivers at some of the top programs in the country, including UCF and LSU, and coached running backs at Georgia following a successful run as head coach at Dunwoody High School in Georgia.

“It’s an honor to be part of Coach Taggart’s coaching staff,” Coach Kelly said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to restore FSU football to its place among the national college football elite, and there is no better feeling than being back in the state of Florida. I have a great comfort level with Florida and the surrounding states because I have spent most of my life here. Thank you to everyone who has supported me. We have a lot of work to do as we build meaningful relationships with everyone in the FSU football family.”

In the previous two seasons, Kelly played a vital role in the recruiting operations at Oregon and South Florida. He is a highly respected coach and recruiter with experience at the high school level, ACC, SEC, Pac-12, Conference USA and in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos. He was named one of the top 25 college football recruiters in the nation by ESPN in 2010 and by Rivals in 2009.

His most recent collegiate coaching job was at UCF, where he served as the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach from 2007-11 after spending 2006 as the program’s director of high school relations. In 2010, the Knights won 11 games, captured the Conference USA championship and defeated Georgia in the Liberty Bowl for the first bowl win in program history. In his first season as a coach at UCF, he helped the Knights compile a 10-4 record and win the conference championship.

Kelly’s group developed depth every season as the offense counted on contributions from multiple wide receivers. In 2007, true freshman Kamar Aiken caught a team-high five touchdowns and was one of three receivers with at least 20 catches. Aiken made nine touchdown catches in 2009, the most by a UCF receiver since 2005, as part of a 44-catch campaign, and Rocky Ross made 41 receptions. Ross also received Academic All-America honors that season for his work in the classroom.

Before going to Orlando, Kelly was the associate head coach and wide receivers coach at Duke for two seasons. In 2002 and 2003 he coached at Stanford as the Cardinal’s offensive coordinator and associate head coach.

He was the wide receivers coach at Georgia Tech in 2000 and 2001 and helped the Yellow Jackets win 17 games and make two bowl appearances. While he was in Atlanta, he guided Kelly Campbell to first-team All-ACC honors in 2001. Campbell finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in career receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions.

His first collegiate wide receivers job came at LSU, where he mentored the Tigers’ receivers from 1996-2000. In each of his first two seasons LSU earned a share of the SEC Western Division crown. The team also appeared in the Peach Bowl twice and the Independence Bowl while he was in Baton Rouge.

Kelly’s first full-time college coaching opportunity came as Georgia’s running backs coach in 1994 and 1995. There, he coached Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis and Robert Edwards. Davis was drafted in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and became the organization’s all-time leading rusher. He was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXII and helped the Broncos win back-to-back championships with a victory in Super Bowl XXXIII. Edwards was the 18th overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft and played six seasons of professional football.

Kelly was the head coach at Dunwoody High School in Georgia for 10 seasons and earned a record of 80-36-1. In 1993, he capped his career with a 15-0 record and the Georgia 4A state championship. That year’s team was ranked No. 3 in the final USA Today national poll, and Kelly was named Georgia’s Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Kelly began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Furman after earning four letters. During his playing career, he saw time at wide receiver, running back and cornerback for the Paladins. He earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Furman in 1979 and completed his master’s degree in education at Furman in 1981. He and his wife, Belinda, have one daughter, Brittany.